Anonymous wrote:OP is not for real, is she?

I don't know but she sure doesn't sound 39. So immature.
Attention seeker?

OP, ignore all these crazies who are telling you that you don't need to make more money and shouldn't invest in furthering your education. You sound like you are ambitious, know where you want to get financially, and are realistic about the expenses/challenges your new child is going to present. GOOD FOR YOU!

OP is trying to figure out how to provide the absolute best for her child and have a generous safety net in case of illness or unemployment. She is going to spend more money on childcare (esp. in the first few years) and that is a huge expense.

I would find a company with health and education benefits, that allows flexibility (work at home, no set start/end time). Let them help you pay for a Master's. Don't worry about paying for a name school. You have valuable experience-- nobody is going to care about where you went to school, they are just going to want to see the credential.

I agree that if you are good at the hustle (and good looking) sales may be a great option-- no need to get an advanced degree.

Anyone who encourages you forego an education in law or managent if not very well informed. The skills you will learn in those schools will serve you well throughout your life not matter what professional field you eventually choose.

Anyone who calls a person "fucking stupid" because they have encouraged you to seek higher learning and to invest in yourself, has just described themselves.

Graduating from law school may not guarentee you'll become a $3 million rainmaker at Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, but with a little effort and some smarts you'll enjoy a good life. The same applies to MBA Schools. Sure you may never become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, but even if you fall short of that lofty goal, life can still be very nice somewhere between where you are today and where you may find yourself in 2053.

How will you feel someday, if you didn't try? What if you find yourself middle aged and disappointed with your life and it's already too late to begin graduate school and a career you might have had.

Believe in yourself, invest in yourself - eroll

Anonymous wrote:Graduate school is an investment in yourself. It will be the best investment you will ever make. Gradually the boomers will be cycling out of their current leadership positions. The people who will replace them will be people who have degrees from graduate schools in law, business and management. Sure there may be a glut on lawyers and such today, but trust me - before you are middle aged the boomers will die.

If you do not have the educational credentials you will not ever be interviewed for that corner office job.

Coming out of law school it is true that you have to graduate from a top five or ten school to get hired by a silk-stocking firm, but big law is also populated by attorneys who came in through the back door a few years after graduation by virtue of other life experiences and niche expertise.

Today two or three hundred grand in education debt seems astronomical. However, when you look back after having a successful career and you are nearing retirement in the year 2053, the remembrance and thoughts of the life you've enjoyed versus the $250k you spent to achieve your dreams, goals, and desires; well in hidesight that $250k will be a distant laughable memory.

Ignore this person. They are fucking stupid.

I've been a lawyer for 33 yrs. and am about to retire.

You are out of your mind IMO going to law school to increase your income above $100k and spending all that $ to get there in a horrible legal market.

The only reason IMO for you to go to law school is if you are committed to a particular kind of practice and not counting on a big payday.

Anonymous wrote:Graduate school is an investment in yourself. It will be the best investment you will ever make. Gradually the boomers will be cycling out of their current leadership positions. The people who will replace them will be people who have degrees from graduate schools in law, business and management. Sure there may be a glut on lawyers and such today, but trust me - before you are middle aged the boomers will die.

If you do not have the educational credentials you will not ever be interviewed for that corner office job.

Coming out of law school it is true that you have to graduate from a top five or ten school to get hired by a silk-stocking firm, but big law is also populated by attorneys who came in through the back door a few years after graduation by virtue of other life experiences and niche expertise.

Today two or three hundred grand in education debt seems astronomical. However, when you look back after having a successful career and you are nearing retirement in the year 2053, the remembrance and thoughts of the life you've enjoyed versus the $250k you spent to achieve your dreams, goals, and desires; well in hidesight that $250k will be a distant laughable memory.

Ignore this. Law school is pure folly.

Graduate school is an investment in yourself. It will be the best investment you will ever make. Gradually the boomers will be cycling out of their current leadership positions. The people who will replace them will be people who have degrees from graduate schools in law, business and management. Sure there may be a glut on lawyers and such today, but trust me - before you are middle aged the boomers will die.

If you do not have the educational credentials you will not ever be interviewed for that corner office job.

Coming out of law school it is true that you have to graduate from a top five or ten school to get hired by a silk-stocking firm, but big law is also populated by attorneys who came in through the back door a few years after graduation by virtue of other life experiences and niche expertise.

Today two or three hundred grand in education debt seems astronomical. However, when you look back after having a successful career and you are nearing retirement in the year 2053, the remembrance and thoughts of the life you've enjoyed versus the $250k you spent to achieve your dreams, goals, and desires; well in hidesight that $250k will be a distant laughable memory.

OP Here! Hormones? More like fear. I had a not-so-great childhood and really want to provide for my little girl. I am afraid my salary will not be adequate to ensure her success in this brutal world. I am for real. My entire family thinks I should go to law school, but I am not going to go now. It wasn't a dream, but a vocation in which I feel I could financially thrive in. I have now decided to pick something else. I am just scared and overwhelmed. I can hardly save for retirement, now I have to college and pay for all the activities that my child will be involved in. It is a lot.

It has to be the hormones running amuck, right?

Read this article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tucker-max/law-school_b_2713943.html. Do not go to law school. I say this as a lawyer currently working in big law but knows that I will not be staying here for much longer. Unless you are in big law, you won't be making big dollar, and for most, your time there is limited anyway (very few make it to partner). Plus, big law is soul sucking.

OP is not for real, is she?

Anonymous wrote:I'm so confused by this thread. Why are you buying a house in Tampa if you don't want to live there?

Anyway, going to law school as a single mother is a truly terrible idea, unless you have savings and can get a full ride to a Top 14 school. I agree with the others who said to look into project management or something like that.

I am going to take a project management certificate program. This thread helped me to realize this so I am excited. I am buying in Tampa (Pinellas County) and going to pay for it out right or rent it out until I pay for it and then move to Florida. My mom agreed to move down too in 4 years. I have decided to not go to law school because of this thread. I really don't want to take on the debt for any program, but the project management certificate is about $5K so I am good with that. I only have my car loan for debt, and I really hate that I have that...so I wouldn't want another big something unless it is a house. I will just take the course, stay in my crappy one bedroom apartment and wait for one year to make any big moves. I agree that I need my job now and its consistency and comfort. I only want more $ for my kid. I want them to go to St. John's or Sidwell Friends or some great private school in Florida. I want them to have a great education, which also means I need to start them on that trend from the beginning. I want them to take French classes and dance classes and art classes and drum lessons and tennis lessons. I didn't get any of that when I was growing up. I got nothing but adversity and pain. I want to take them to Paris and Istanbul. I just want them to be the best version of themselves they can possibly be. So for me to give them that I also have to make changes within myself. Thanks again everyone. I hope it all turns out well.

I'm so confused by this thread. Why are you buying a house in Tampa if you don't want to live there?

Anyway, going to law school as a single mother is a truly terrible idea, unless you have savings and can get a full ride to a Top 14 school. I agree with the others who said to look into project management or something like that.

Anonymous wrote:P.S. This place is not awesome. There are many places that are all kinds of awesome, and which have a far lower cost of living than DC does.

Don't go to law school or any kind of grad school right now! I graduated from Cornell law and am way underemployed. 100,000k is plenty, ESP in Tampa. After law school u wld most likely be unemployable unless you went to Harvard yale or sta ford. Don't do it.